How To Get Your Dog To Come When Called, Every Time!

Isn’t it frustrating when you repeatedly call your dog to come and they seem to tune you out? Have you found yourself in a scary situation where your dog gets loose and you end up chasing them around, looking like a crazy person, while your dog is having the time of their life enjoying their freedom?

What if I told you that almost 95% of people teach their dog not to come when they call their dog by doing some really bad behaviors? (On accident of course.)

Teaching your dog a reliable recall is one of the most important cues you can teach your dog! It’s the cue you can use to keep them safe if they escape and bolt towards the road or if they slip their collar and head towards oncoming people or dogs. If your dog gets lose you want to be able to call them back instantly!

The problem is that it’s also the number one cue that dog owners don’t practice enough.

In order to get a reliable recall, you need to teach your dog that you are far better than every other distraction.

Daily training with your dog will help you build a rock-solid bond with your dog. This will also help your dog see you in a positive light. The more your dog thinks you are the “cat’s meow” or the best of the best, the better recall you’ll have with your dog.

Here are some top tips to keep in mind when working on a reliable recall with your dog so you don’t accidentally teach your dog not to come:

Never Chase Your Dog
Whatever you do, do not chase your dog if they refuse to come to you. Chasing your dog will make them run further away from you. Dogs have a natural instinct to run away from special pressure being applied. You running at them in a low angry tone will most certainly push them further away from you!

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Drop Your Body Posture
If you want to get your dog to come closer to you, drop your body posture, get as low as possible. You’ll seem more interesting when you get down on their level. They may think you want to play with them.

Never Sold or Scream at Your Dog
If you want to get your dog to come closer to you instead of running away, you’ll need to sweet talk them. I know you may be frustrated that they aren’t responding to you but the more upset and angry you are the less likely they will want to come back to you. When was the last time you wanted to get close to a screaming, yelling, crazy person? Instead be as happy and excited as possible. Make it seem like you are super happy with them, even if you’re less then pleased with their bad behavior.

Go Away
Moving in the opposite direction will actually peek your dog’s curiosity. They will want to see where you are going and what you are doing. If you can run away while calling their name in a happy upbeat tone you’re more likely to get them to engage in a game of them chasing you instead of the other way around. Don’t forget to drop your posture as well. Your dog will think this new chase game is great fun! Your dog should always be chasing you, you should never be chasing your dog. This same rule applies in the house when your dog grabs ahold of something they aren’t supposed to have.

Stop Saying “Come”
If your dog is not responding to the cue “come” you need to stop calling it out. The more your dog hears the cue “come” and doesn’t respond but instead runs away, tunes you out and wants to engage with you in a game of you chasing them instead, they more the word loses its meaning. Come starts to mean “run away from me” or “sniff the ground.”

Until your dog has a rock solid, 100%, reliable recall do not let them off leash! Your dog does not avoid coming to you on purpose. They get easily sidetracked and distracted by all the things that are more entertaining and interesting than you. They can’t help themselves. You are essentially competing with the world when you call them to come to you. If you aren’t more exciting than the world they are exploring they will choose the world over you. If you run towards them or sound angry they will tune you out and run away instead.

In order for you to get your dog to reliably come when called, you’ll need to work on playing some tried and true recall games on a leash to establish that coming to you is far better than running away. You’ll want to build the bond between you and your dog by practicing training daily. This can also include working on other training cues as well. Training should be fun, positive and practiced regularly!

Tell me in the comments below about the time your dog didn’t come when you called them.

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3 Comments

Martha
on May 8, 2018 at 7:39 pm

My dog always tries to get out when we open the door and the times he did we chased him because he crosses the street so I get nervous he get hits by a car, I bring a carrot with me and he comes,but is very scary because he doesn’t know that cars can kill him,I hope it doesn’t happen again but if it does I will try not to chase him, he’s very stubborn.

I always recommend using a super high-value treat when trying to get your dog to come back to you. Carrots are great but make coming back to you really exciting. If you had the choice between a $1 and $100 to perform a task which would you prefer? The carrot is equal to the $1, while chicken, cheese or liver training treats might be equal to $100. You could use the high value treats just when you are working on recall so your dog always associated high value treats with coming back to you!

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Michele Lennon is a certified trainer with close to twenty years of training experience. She's a passionate teacher who loves to help students raise the dog of their dreams. She has started and grown 4 successful pet services businesses over the last 20 years. She's owned an operated training and boarding facilities, a grooming salon and a exercise gym specially designed for dogs. She is an education junkie and loves to learn everything she can and then share that with her students. Michele loves to teach group classes, webinars, and online courses to dog owners looking for tips and tricks to training their dream dog(s). When she’s not teaching she can be found outdoors hiking, gardening or spending time with family.
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